Choosing Livestock (Part 3) …The Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm

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So here we are at Part 3. You’ve already decided that you’re ready to bring some livestock out to the farm. You’ve done your research and planning and know what type of livestock you want to start with. But within each species there is a huge list of individual breeds to choose from–and each one has plenty of breeders and admirers swearing that theirs is the best breed ever! The Livestock Conservancy identifies and tracks heritage livestock breeds only, and they have lists of 22 breeds of cattle, 10 individual … Continue Reading…

Choosing Livestock (Part 2) …the Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm

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This particular part of the series became a two-parter (and then THREE PARTS) because there’s just so much to cover when it comes to choosing livestock. Livestock will be, by far, your largest investment in your small farm. In time, resources, and heartache. Choosing the right animals to fit your needs, your goals, and your farm space will make the best use of your limited resources, and be less stressful for you AND the animals. If your tractor dies, there will be financial pain and angst. When you lose a … Continue Reading…

Pros and Cons of a Hoop House Chicken Coop

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Our latest chicken coop is a hoop house style made from an old greenhouse frame, with hog panel sides and salvaged tin for the front and back wall. We wrap it in 9 mil plastic for weather proofing. There are runner boards (or skids) along the bottom on both long sides. This means we can drag it around the field as needed–something we do weekly. That also gives us something to fasten the plastic to in the winter. At the top of the hog panel wall on each side are … Continue Reading…

Life with the Red Head…the Cattle Dog Crew

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It turns out cattle dogs have a thing for sharing coffee on the porch! Remember Coal’s adventures at the porch table? Turns out we’ve got another one! I found Red at the table waiting for me this morning while I was making my coffee, all muddy and wet and impressed with herself. Cattle dogs keep life interesting. They’re big time outdoor enthusiasts, so there’s no limit to the muck and mud they’re glad to track through the house. No limit to the wildlife they will chase, dig up, or eat. Remember … Continue Reading…

Twin Lambs at Sunrise…the Daily Farm Adventures {123}

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When I was out walking the dogs past the lamb pasture Wednesday morning, I thought I saw a ewe laying down back in the corner in a sheep hut. So we kept an eye on her throughout the morning chores and school routine. Sure enough, she was in labor. By the time I left for work, she had a healthy set of twins on the ground. They were up, walking around and nursing. I sneaked in for a closer look, but she started stomping her foot at me, so I … Continue Reading…

A Set of Twins and Growing Lambs…the Daily Farm Adventures {122}

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We got to be home for a brand new set of twins over the weekend. Many times during lambing season we’re at work or school and always make a new count when we pull in the driveway to see if we missed anything! Their momma is one of the ewes that has struggled before, so we’re keeping a close eye on her. With all of our sheep getting older, we’ve got to keep extra tabs on things like access to minerals, salt, and grain. So far so good, though. She … Continue Reading…

Lambs At Play…the Daily Farm Adventures {121}

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Feeding time for mommas is when the lambs get to run wild and play together. Every evening it’s like a crazy lamb party out there! Their mommas are all head-down in the trough and they are running around wondering what to do. Remember that feisty ewe lamb from Bug-Eyes last Thursday? She might be smaller, but she is a busy little thing! That big black lamb is a bit of a mommas-boy. The little gray is quite spunky. At this age any time the lambs cry, their momma will leave … Continue Reading…

Lambing Season Has Started {2017}

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Our household has really been under the weather this past week, with a stomach bug and the flu coming to visit. But farm life goes on and along with the flu and some snow flurries, Thursday brought our first lambs! This big fella was already dried off and scampering around on his own four-feet when I saw him while walking the dogs at 7 am. Then later that morning we saw signs of labor in a second ewe. One of the earliest signs is that they start wandering off by themselves … Continue Reading…

Being Outside at the Tree Farm All Day…the Daily Farm Adventures {120}

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We were outside all day on Saturday, doing some extended yard clean up at the tree farm and taking a family hike. Mr. Fix-It’s father, sister, and family were visiting for the day as well. It surprised me how much the kiddos have grown. I didn’t pack a ton of snacks, no changes of clothes, no extra hat and gloves…of course, we were right around the corner from home! But it’s amazing to think how far along this parenting continuum we’ve come. They each had a bottle of water, an apple, and … Continue Reading…

Farm Work Odds and Ends…the Daily Farm Adventures {119}

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Well, it’s pretty soggy around here. That limits what we can do outside. You can cause a lot of damage to fields and paths by driving through and rutting them up in really wet weather. You can see what I mean in those ruts in the picture below… But there’s still always something to be working on. First, there’s always housework to be done–and these soggy days can multiply that with everyone’s muddy boots and clothes! There’s a constant balancing act on the homestead between the basic housework and home … Continue Reading…

A Winter Calf…the Daily Farm Adventures {118}

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The Ladybug came in hollering from her chores a few weeks ago–which always sets my nerves to tingling a little bit, because who knows what’s happened now? {smile} But she was excited because she had good news–she thought our cow Molly had a calf! So we threw our boots on and trooped out to check. Sure enough, she was off in the back field all by herself–and our cows always stay in their family group! She’s a pretty laid back cow, but I still took my time approaching her. She … Continue Reading…

Fixing Fence and Family Time…the Daily Farm Adventures {117}

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The weather around here is so wonky in the Fall/Winter. When school starts, it’s really still summer. About October, Fall hits and we’re all in sweatshirts for the morning, and long-sleeve tees in the afternoon. Then suddenly between Thanksgiving and Christmas we get a beautiful Indian Summer, and everyone’s back in tee-shirts for a few weeks. Our real “winter” doesn’t hit until January–and even then it’s usually broken up with some weeks of 50s and 60s. We normally have lamb harvest in September, then we hit the winter prep work hard while … Continue Reading…

Red’s First Snow…Life with Coal the Cattle Dog

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“Life with Coal the Cattle Dog“…Hmmm…might have to update that somehow now that Red’s with us too. And she certainly doesn’t tolerate being ignored! Maybe “Life with Cattle Dog Chaos!” {smile} Since she’s been with us, we’ve had a false-alarm hurricane, and a for-real Nor’eastern with 3 days of downpours, but this past week was her first really cold snap. The snow started on Saturday and I was the first one up and moving around. Not the normal turn of events around here, but the kiddos have been staying up … Continue Reading…

First Snow of the Year…the Daily Farm Adventures {116}

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Well, our first snow was quite an event this year–10 to 12 inches! Something we only get every couple years around here. Last year we hardly got any snow at all. Snow means fun for the kids, time off from school, and more chores. {smile} We spend more time checking on everyone and making sure everyone has the calories they need to stay warm. We also throw down extra straw in the barns to keep everyone off the cold ground and out of the eventual mud that always follows the … Continue Reading…

Choosing Livestock (Part 1)…the Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm

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So, now we get to the fun part of a small farm–The critters. It’s the part we tend to get over-zealous and the most impulsive about–and probably the most important that we take our time and think through! {smile} On a more serious note, it really is the part people most often get in over their head with. We’ve ended up with a lot of cast off livestock over the years. From “adopting” chickens at the animal shelter, to a goat tied to our porch rail with a note, to … Continue Reading…

Another Four Paws…the Daily Farm Adventures {115}

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You know what they say…”Cattle dogs are like chips, you can’t have just one!” So, THIS happened over the weekend… Let’s just skip the hows and whys and get right to the puppy breath, because this face… We named her Red. (Creative, I know.) The kiddos love the name and hated everything else I suggested. She’s a purebred cattle dog, just like Coal. But she’s the red color, where he is considered “blue.” She’s actually a color mix, being mostly red, but some blue that makes her mask and spots … Continue Reading…

Washing the Dogs…the Daily Farm Adventures {114}

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Our dogs live in the house with us. That means they both have to be reasonably clean and neat and not smell like they rolled in dead animal or cow patties on a regular basis. It’s been known to present it’s own set of challenges. {smile} Both the four-feets were pretty wiffy after a walk the other day, and I traced it back to some very stiff, suspiciously smelly sections of their neck and chest. If you’ve ever seen a dog roll intentionally in a pile of mess, you know … Continue Reading…

Pasture Walking…the Daily Farm Adventures {113}

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Walking the dogs several times a day means I get to see the subtle changes that happen in the pasture as the seasons turn.While walking the dogs is part of the crew’s chore routine, I also walk them every day. Usually early in the morning (when I need to be alone to wake up nicely) and the evening right after work (to relax into our home life after the busy day). Coal also insists that I take him for a walk every evening after dinner. By insists, I mean that … Continue Reading…

What to Do When Chores are Hard

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From the time our crew were old enough to be in a backpack carrier, there have been chores around here. By the time they could walk, they were helping drag empty buckets back to the feed shed, putting up fencing, and scrubbing water buckets. So we talk about doing chores a lot here, and you’ll find a lot of pictures of chores and chore time (or choring as we call it when we’re making up our own verbs) on our Facebook and Instagram accounts. And folks are often impressed by how much … Continue Reading…

The Cow Shelter…Life with Coal the Cattle Dog

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It’s been hot, sticky, and on and off rain for several days now around here. The grass is tall and the animals are fat and it’s time for us to start looking ahead for the fall and winter weather. (I’m also looking forward to not breaking into a sweat just standing on the back porch…) Our cows have a run in barn available all the time, but they don’t mind the heat. As long as it’s dry, you’ll see them sunbathing in the middle of the field most of the … Continue Reading…

Easy Pallet Garden Fence

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Well, we are busy back in the garden again this year. We had great plans the last few years but haven’t brought much of them to fruition. And I’ll admit that a lot of that was my poor attitude about gardening without a fence. I just couldn’t find a good spirit about all that work knowing that I would drive myself crazy trying to police the dogs out of it every minute and that if the sheep got out even one time–even for just 10 minutes!–they could destroy an entire … Continue Reading…

On the Trail of the Beaver, Part 2…the Daily Farm Adventures {112}

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So on Monday I started to share how we spent all of last weekend scrounging through the woods on the tree farm looking for beavers. They’re damaging and flooding out young pine trees–which is the main product on the tree farm. {smile} But our adventure stopped just short of finding the new beaver hut… Well, here’s what we found–not just a den, but an entire new ecosystem! There are three different dams built to create a two-tier pond system.   Of course, Coal the Cattle Dog had to immediately jump … Continue Reading…

On the Trail of the Beaver, Part 1…the Daily Farm Adventures {111}

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You might think that tree farming is about the easiest farming there is. I did at first. I mean, you’re growing pine trees, and surely they don’t need much supervising…right? Wrong. For crying out loud, sometimes it feels like growing those trees takes more work than raising our human children! {smile} You have to cut, mow, burn, plant, pray for rain…mow, cut, thin, spray…and then the predators…rabbits, mice, rats, voles, disease…apparently everything that doesn’t eat meat loves to eat trees! And now beavers. I wrote before that we’ve found some beaver damage … Continue Reading…

Building, Rebuilding, and Getting Dirty…the Daily Farm Adventures {109}

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Thank goodness after a long round of antibiotics and other meds Mr. Fix-It and I are feeling better. Not great. Not quite back to normal. But definitely better. Because Spring is in full swing around here and there’s just no time to be laying around in bed! The Dodge has been in pieces in the garage for weeks now and that situation had to be corrected. First we had to take it apart to figure out what was broken. Then we had to find and order the parts–from Montana of … Continue Reading…

Being Sick in Spring…the Daily Farm Adventures {108}

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Mr. Fix-It and I had colds. Which we ignored. Because that’s what farmers and busy parents do when they’re sick–they ignore it. Turns out that was probably not the best course of action. After nearly 3 weeks of being “under the weather” we were both diagnosed with low-bar pneumonia. Ha! Serves us right, I guess. After a week of medicine, I think we’re both improving (and back to work) but still a little low in the energy category. That’s hard in Spring, on a farm, but we’re keeping things afloat. There’s … Continue Reading…

Cattle Dogs, Sink Holes, and Sunny Weather…the Daily Farm Adventures {107}

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A cattle dog is like velcro to their owner. This is Coal’s favorite place to end the day, laying with me while I read a book in bed… The problem comes when he spends the whole afternoon before that like this… Turns out he’s a big fan of swimming in sink holes. And drainage ditches. And storm ponds. A sheep troughs. And if I complain that’s he’s stinkin’, wet, and dirty, he likes to clean up by rolling in…dirt. With the best of intentions, I’m sure. So I try to … Continue Reading…

Garage Girls and Farm Trucks…the Daily Farm Adventures {106}

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My Dad fixed all our cars. He was capable and, honestly, we couldn’t afford a mechanic for everything. And I spent a lot of “garage” time with him, although he didn’t have a garage when I was growing up and we were actually spending time in the driveway–occasionally under a tarp. {smile} He taught me more then just how to check my oil, although I was never a natural mechanic like he and my husband are. But I know my way around a toolbox and, with direction, have been involved … Continue Reading…

More Lamb Pictures…the Daily Farm Adventures {105}

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We had another set of twins here at the farm last week. They came during some of the coldest weather of the winter so far…of course. {smile} But they’re doing just fine. Their momma is a steady, older, ewe that knows her business. It’s a little ram and a little ewe. (The first set were both rams.) The ewe was born noticeably smaller than the ram and seemed to have some problems right at first. Every time I opened the back door I could hear the little girl crying her … Continue Reading…

Lambs are Here! …the Daily Farm Adventures {104}

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Well, the crew came running back in from chores the other day to holler that WE HAVE LAMBS! You may remember that we’ve been on lamb watch for a week or two now because the ladies have had “the waddle.” The only thing cuter than the lambs themselves, was when the crew ran back inside to grab their tablets to take pictures and videos. We still only have this healthy set of twins on the ground, and 9 more ewes to deliver. But they’re doing very well and we’re happy … Continue Reading…

Sign of the Beaver…the Daily Farm Adventures {103}

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No, not the book by Elizabeth George Speare (although we like that too!). I’m talking about the real thing. Brown. Wet. Big flat tail. Makes ponds where there should be no pond. Beavers. He was here… And here… We’ve got beaver problems at the tree farm. We’re not immediately ones to campaign against the local wildlife. We try to have a live-and-let-live philosophy. We only target wildlife that is specifically damaging our resources. For example, we know there’s coyotes around here–but none have ever bothered our stock, so we don’t mind sharing … Continue Reading…